rather than pick out individual stocks to trade, it can often be worthwhile to trade the indices themselves, especially in times of high volatility.

for those so inclined, i attach below charts for FTSE and FTSE 250, though one might equally be tempted to trade Dow or S&P, which is significantly broader in its coverage, or even NASDAQ

for ease of reading, i have attached 1 year and 3 month charts in each instance

Fitch downgrades Spain by 2 notches, warns of more cuts



17:37, Friday 7 October 2011

NEW YORK (Frankfurt: A0DKRK - news) (Reuters) - Fitch on Friday cut Spain's credit ratings by two notches, just a few minutes after downgrading Italy, saying the intensification of the euro zone debt crisis has had a negative impact in the entire region.

The ratings agency cut Spain's credit ratings to AA-minus from AA-plus. It kept a negative outlook on the new rating, in a sign more downgrades are possible in the next couple of years

sure did dc - but no ones worried in the city as it was expected and valued in (or should i say out! lol) already gl

dont worry about a thing - i look forward to next week - bit of playing to be done - meanwhile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NfNvm2WOBM&feature=related

been a very good week of opportunities that only come round every few years - gonna chill now

stuck in cw post meetings at the moment got to get out lol - its been a tough week - out on the town shortly lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVkJlLBP3MM

london town lol |http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcP_EsLFXGw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upkdm19oOzE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KNxcByCEkM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1hj1pfBamA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhDLq2hNr7M&feature=related

gibby, you part timer lol. Sounds like you have put some long hours in this week.
good weekend gibby.

Not much in the way of important data to come form the U.S. this week as far as I can see, so as long as the greeks don't spoil the party, looks like we might see a slight recovery in U.K. stock prices. Gold on the move up again!

pretty quiet here today , 5425 just shy 25 points to get out of range..

DOW looking good. Must be time to take profits soon. Too far, too fast maybe?

not sure it's actually too far too fast, but assuredly markets do not go up or down in straight lines ..... banking a profit can never be wrong, but timing is the thing as always

usually bounce back down but not too many issues at ceiling this time, earnings time, slovakia will be done ,merkel-sarkozy positive ,than g20 , christmass $... bet bears feeling heat as traders much more like chasing boat than maintain loses...as soon as dealing above range shorters start to pack up.. then boom :)) technical rally by the end of year has to start somewere..nice

Think I must be missing something, unemployment hits its highest level in the UK in 17 years, the economy is at a standstill, the Eurozone is being bailed out by even more borrowed funds yet the Indicies continue to rise in spite of everything. Head in the sand syndrome?

Edit: And if the DOW goes through 11720 with any strength, then the world has gone truly mad!

Good week so far just trading what you see, the fact that it doesn't make any sense seems to be par for the course. Tight stops order of the day, day being the operative word on the trading front, could all go tits up tomorrow :O)

hi peter .... sorry to be so remiss in responding to you, but have been swamped with all sorts of things, some good and some horrid + market collapse etc

unless i am much mistaken, tech stocks have lagged badly in this strong rally, and accordingly have bought into both AAPL and GOOG

Looking good for the morrow. Still letting my profits run, but ready to sell as this surely can't last. (I concur with #7151). Trading bounce, suckers rally, call it what you will, but ..........
You have been very quiet recently, Cynic.........assumed bulk chemicals were focussing all your attention.

Hi Ricardo, no worries, hope you've managed to sort things out, especially the horrid.

Jeez, DOW short stopped out at entry (11590) at 2042 before tanking 120 pts. ARGHHHHHHH!!!!

CNN - "JPMorgan reported profit and revenue figures that topped Wall Street estimates, but fell from a year earlier. Investors were disappointed as CEO Jamie Dimon said the investment bank is being "extremely cautious, while navigating through this challenging economic environment."

"It's a difficult environment for banks to make money," said Dave Hinnencamp, CEO at KDV Wealth Management. "The banking sector is facing a lot of headwinds, considering what's happening in Europe."

Looks like no matter what you do, the market is going to remain unimpressed at the moment.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits dipped slightly but remained over 400,000, according to a government report.

There were 404,000 initial unemployment claims filed in the week ended Oct. 8, the Labor Department said Thursday, down 1,000 from the prior week's revised 405,000.

Economists had forecast initial claims to rise to 406,000, according to a consensus estimate compiled by Briefing.com.

Harry - fickle doesn't do it justice!

glad to say that both AAPL and GOOG are performing well against the trend